Nova was still awed by the powers of those she was with. Even given her newly acquired might that was greater than anything she'd thought was even possible she was surpassed by Raditz, when he was transformed, and by Hotaru. The latter had her outclassed by a far larger amount than she could have ever dreamed of before coming to Planet Vegeta. And the ferocity of the Tanarian woman's sudden assault had also caught her off guard.
Still, by the time Hotaru had readied her energy blades the Changeling Queen had recovered her senses and was on the move. She was unsure what attacks the others may have been planning to distract Cell with but she had a few of her own that she felt would be useful. While he was focused on Hotaru she quickly got behind him and charged what looked like a regular ball of blue ki in her right hand.
"Lacero!" she cried, pitching it toward Cell like a baseball.
The Bio-droid turned quickly at the sound of her voice and spied the incoming attack. He quickly judged it as a non factor and once it was in range swatted at it knocking it away. He left out a cry of shock and pain as soon as his hand touched the ball as the energy ripped through his flesh and, by the time he broke contact with it, shreded up half of his hand.
He growled as he stared at his damaged appendage but before he could muster a counter attack a sharp pain jammed him in the back and he saw the tip of Hotaru's energy blade emerge from his chest. Forcing the lancing pain from his mind he jammed an elbow back into the Tanarian's chest knocking the wind out of her and knocking her onto her back. He turned to follow up his attack on her but came to a stop when he heard a female voice to his left.
"Destructo Disc!" Mijima cried pitching two of the golden energy discs in Cell's direction. The Bio-droid slipped around one while bringing up his damaged hand and allowing the second disc to slice it off. Almost instantly a fully intact hand emerged to replace it which he then used to send a stream of golden energy in the Cyborg's direction.
The blonde slipped around the energy blast and the threw five more energy discs but Cell slipped around each of them with ease. "Please, 18, you could never hope to hurt me." he laughed.
"I'm not 18." the woman replied as she raised both arms above her head and began to gather energy. "That's a part of my life I've put behind me. I am Mijima, now and forever." She then lowered the large ball of gathered energy and pointed it in Cell's direction. "Here's a little payback for Krillin.... Destructo Disc Shotgun!"
The large energy sphere shot toward Cell at high speed but the Bio-droid smirked, sure he could handle the attack with ease. But then the sphere suddenly exploded releasing nearly four dozen energy discs flying at different angles and in different directions, though all coming his way. His eyes widened in shock for a moment and then he quickly left out a cry and burst of energy in their direction knocking them off course or destroying them outright.
/That would have been unpleasant./ he thought, scowling. /However, they are proving more entertaining than I had anticipated. Now, where did that Tanarian get to?/ he wondered. As he turned to find her he noticed it had gotten darker and a light off to his right caught his attention. Looking that way he saw Hotaru floating just a few inches above the ground, arms pointed his way and light sparking around them. /Now what is this?/
"Taiyou Inmetsu Hirameki!" Hotaru cried. Instantly the space between the two of them flashed blindingly bright and then a thunderous crack sounded as Cell was sent flying backwards and into a building at the crater's edge.
As the building began to collapse ontop of him Nova saw another opening and shot quickly into the sky, aiming a hand down at the rubble. A ball of swirling red energy flared up in front of her hand, white and blue energy crackling around it. "Letum!" she cried, firing the golfball sized blast into the rubble. There was a bright flash of red and a ground shaking erruption as the energy exploded savagely and surged hundreds of feet into the air and vaporized three city blocks.
Nova's eyes widened a second later as Cell came surging up out of the dust straight for her. A streak of silver surged in a second later and knocked him away with a loud crack. The Tanarian pulled to a stop then and panted. She wasn't getting any time to really rest up between attacks and she had to keep using high level ones just to keep even. Taking a deep breath she began to glow and then the glow split apart into four copies of her.
As Cell pulled to a stop he spied the extra Hotaru's taking form and smirked. "Bad move girl." he said. "With your power divided I can crush you even more easily now!" and with a burst of orange he shot in at the five of them but came to a sudden stop as all five vanished from sight. "What? A teleportation technique?" he wondered, looking around for her.
Suddenly sensing a power nearing behind him he spun around and launched kick that passed right through the Hotaru that was floating there. "What!?" Quickly disregarding that power and image as a fake of some sort he turned to find the real one and met with a foot to the back of his head. Spinning around again he lashed out with a punch but it, too, passed clear through without doing damage.
"What is this?" Cell growled. He ducked as he felt another power flare behind him and watched as the second Hotaru punched the first knocking her back. /What in the world is this?/ he wondered as he pulled away from both of them. /How can they attack but not be attacked, unless they're hitting each other?/ Pushing those thoughts aside he reached out with his senses to find the other three missing women. One of them had to be real.
A second later he found them. One was to his left and on the ground, the second behind him and in the sky, and the third was in a building about a block away. /I'd place my bets on the one in hiding./ he thought with a smirk as he faced that direction. He quickly whipped out and arm and fired off a shot toward the distant building. The energy blast impacted a second later and then exploded and the two Hotarus charging him from behind vanished.
"Bingo."
"Sorry, not quite." Came Hotaru's voice as she surged down from above and smashed her leg into his face knocking him back a few feet. "Shika-Shidou, Yaiba!" she cried as energy blades formed around both arms. She lunged in quickly, while Cell was still off balance, and slashed her blades through the air toward him. The left hand blade cut through his neck while the right cut up from his right hip to left shoulder.
The Bio-droid left out a cry of pain as he surged back away from the woman and her blades. /I can't believe I'm having this much trouble dealing with this Tanarain!/ he thought with a scowl. /If my power hadn't been boosted... this just isn't possible./ He growled as his hand clenched into fists. "Alright, that's it!" he declared. "I've had enough of this, I grow tired of playing these games. It is time for you to die."
"Not so fast Cell!" Gainin cried from behind him. The Bio-droid turned and found him and Mijima standing side by side, back to back, arms raised and purple energy gathered before their hands. "Did you forget something? Mijima and I have infinite energy! Give us enough time and we can charge any level of attack we want!"
The twins smirked as Cell's eyes widened and locked onto the pulsing purple ball of energy in front of their hands. And then their voices rang out together. "DOUBLE BARREL BLASTER!" The energy ball erupted and a massive wave of energy surged toward Cell who quickly brought his arms up, crossing them, to block. The beam hit and with a cry and thrust of his arms out and apart he deflected the attack into the sky leaving the two Cyborgs scowling at him.
"You had me worried there for a moment, I must admit." Cell said as he started to smirk again. "But that attack was pathetic. Still, it proves that you are more than just nusances. I'll eliminate the two of you first." He raised his right arm and pointed a finger toward the two, taking aim at Gainin first. "Death Beam!" he cried as a stream of purple energy surged toward them.
Gainin left out a gasp of surprise as he felt his sister slam into him and knock him out of the way. And then watched on in shock as the beam punched through her chest. She hit the ground a few feet away with a dull thud, eyes open but unseeing. "Mijima! Damn it...!" Gainin cried, slamming a fist down into the ground. He turned his gaze toward Cell and growled as he pushed off and surged at him.
The Bio-droid easily slipped around his punch and then slammed a knee up into his stomach and then smashing a hard left hook into his face that twisted his head around and snapped his neck. As he fell to the ground Cell kicked him away and then turned to find Hotaru again. "Now, where did she disappear to?" he wondered. Suddenly a flash of purple came from above, bathing the street in its glow. "Hm?"
Looking up Cell arched an eyebrow at the sight of the elder Vegeta floating a good hundred feet in the air, hands cupped to his side and purple aura pulsing wildly. "Impressive display but do you really think you can even scratch me?" he asked.
Vegeta smiled as the purple energy between his hands flashed again. "I can do more than that, Cell." he said. "After Cooler's visit, and with knowledge of how bad things could become thanks to the Red Ribbon Army, I worked on developing a new attack. A new and improved Gallick Gun. I think it's time to give it a field test. Neo Gallick Gun fire!" he cried as he thrust his arms down.
Cell merely smirked as he watched the attack near. He could feel it's power and while it was certainly impressive it was no where near a threat to him. Just as it was about to hit him he jumped and snapped out a kick to knock it away. His foot hit the beam and then intense agony tore through his leg and he cried in out shock and pain as he fell back and hit the ground. The attack then slammed into the ground a few feet behind him and exploded showering debris down over the battle field.
As the dust fell Cell picked himself back up off the ground and soon found the cause of the pain he'd felt. The leg he'd tried to deflect the attack with, from mid shin down, was completely gone. "What!?" he cried, eyes widening in shock and then narrowing into a deep scowl as he leg regenerated. "How the hell did he...."
Vegeta smirked from where he floated in the sky panting. "That attack is covered in spinning energy blades. It's the same effect as an energy disc. I was hoping you'd take it head on, though. Even if it hadn't been enough to destroy you it would have bought us a little more time while you regenerated."
Cell's eyes narrowed. "Bought you more time?" he asked. "More time for what? What could you possibly do to...."
"Hell's Gate!" Piccolo's voice roared from behind Cell.
The Bio-droid spun around just in time for the first energy sphere to engulf him. /Damn, I'd forgotten Piccolo was even here... wait, where are Raditz and that Tanarian? Damn it! I'll have to find them once I get out of here./ He was just about to charge out of the energy around him for the Namek when Piccolo's voice rang out again.
"Heaven's Gate!" The other ball of energy surged forward and impacted the energy around the Bio-droid as Piccolo clenched his hands into fists. "Judgment!"
The resulting implosion and then explosion of the attack carved a larger and deeper crater along the western edge of the original as it blew both the tired Senator and Namek away. As Piccolo righted himself he glanced up into the sky toward Hotaru and Raditz. He could barely sense either of them at the edge of his perception. Hotaru had gone up to check on how much time was left before Raditz was ready, hopefully it wasn't much.
Looking back toward Cell the Namek's eyes widened. As the dust cleared away he saw that the Bio-droid was completely unharmed. "No way! That should have at least done some damage!"
"You pests are becoming annoying." Cell growled as he massaged his left shoulder. "But neither of you are a threat now so I'll deal with you later. Now, where did that Tanarian get to?" he wondered as he began to glance around.
"Looking for me?" Hotaru asked as she appeared in front of Cell. Her hands were up in front of her face forming a tunnel for her to gaze through. "Shika-Shidou Konmei!" she cried. Her eyes flashed bright orange and then his did the same a second later as he left out a loud cry of pain and pressed his hands against the sides of his head.
"Clear out!" Hotaru called before vanishing. Piccolo, Vegeta, and Nova quickly moved away from Cell who now had his eyes shut tight and was doubled over as he pressed his hands against his head and screamed. And then they looked up as a gold light began to fill the city streets and Raditz descended, gold energy sparking between his hands.
"Tri-beam, First Shot!" Raditz called as the gold between his hands flared up brightly and then the energy surged down and slammed into Cell with a thunderous explosion that brought down a few near-by buildings and formed a deep pit in the ground. He took a few quick, deep, breaths as he let his musscles untense a little.
He'd not been able to charge one as powerful as he'd hoped he would and it still put a good deal of strain on his body. /This can't be my limit!/ he thought. /Everyone else is stronger than that, my entire family. And the strain and maximum level of the Tri-beam is the same if I'm transformed or not./ He shook that aside quickly and returned his focus to the task at hand. The energy between his hands snapped and pulsed as he readied to attack again. "Second Shot!"
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Sai-jin Palace
"It's not much of a defense, but it's the best we can manage." Vadora said with a frown as she crossed her arms. "Having a few guards posted all around the palace is better than nothing at least."
"Not that it'll matter if Cell comes by." Tien said with a shake of his head.
"I still find it hard to fathom." said the strongest of the Changeling Elites that Nova had brought, Tsunamo. Unlike Cold in his second form, who still had skin visible between sections of natural armor, Tsunamo was already fully covered in the white armor. The only color to him, other than the tan and black armor he wore, were the plates on his head, shoulders, arms, and legs which were a deep blue. "You say this Cell's power is in the hundreds of millions but such power is...."
"Believe me, I know the feeling." Pug said to him. "And I've been watching the powers climbing since Goku and Bardock first landed on Namek." He stopped there as he noticed Tien was staring off toward the city. "What is it?" he asked. "Has something happened?" His scouter was currently set to montior the area around the palace so they would have advance warning of any threats so it wasn't tracking the powers in the city.
The Human shook his head. "Not yet but I think it's about to." he said. "With the power I'm feeling from Raditz right now he must be about ready to unleash a Tri-beam at his maximum level." A second later a bright flash of gold flared up in the direction of the city and the ground beneath their feet trembled. But the power he felt coming from Raditz didn't subside down to it's normal levels. "Raditz, no!" he yelled, realizing what the Sai-jin was doing.
"What's happening?" asked Tsunamo.
"He's going to use another Tri-beam."
"What's that mean?" inquired the Changeling as a second flash of gold came from the distance.
Vadora shook her head. "The Tri-beam is an amazingly powerful move capable of being used at levels many times beyond the user's own power. But the strain it puts on the body is high...."
"Yes." Tien said. "And with each consecutive shot the amount of power drops by ten percent while the level of strain doubles...." he trailed off as a third flash of gold came. "Damn it! Raditz! STOP!" he yelled, even though he knew the Sai-jin couldn't hear him.
"What happens if he keeps using it?" asked Tsunamo, watching the golden light in the city.
"Four consecutive shots will snap musscles and do severe internal damage. Damage that's fatal if not treated quickly." Vadora answered. "A fifth...." she trailed off as a fourth flash of gold lit up the horizon.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Mortal Plane, Planet Vegeta, Saiya City
Raditz winced and shut his eyes as the third blast went off. He could feel his entire body protesting. The musscles in his arms and chest had grown taunt and stiff and his shoulders were beginning to burn. /Come on, just a little bit more./ he thought, panting, as he opened his eyes again. He could still feel Cell down inside the blast hole from his attack, unmoving.
He felt his body tense and the burning in his shoulders grow as he readied the next attack. "Fourth Shot!" he cried, the golden energy exploding forth from his hands and down toward the square hole below. The attack went unseen by the Sai-jin, however, as his eyes were squinted shut from the pain. His entire body burned now and it felt like his heart was about to explode.
Intense pain lanced through his arms and legs as his body broke under the strain of the energy he was forcing through it. /One... more..../ he thought as he wavered slilghtly in the air. He panted as he tried to get his breath and focus back so he could keep on target. /Just... one more... shot..../ He swallowed and took a deep breath as he felt the burning flare up inside him stronger than over. "FINAL SHOT!"
The energy surged out of his hands with tremendous force and speed and slammed into the hole below with a thundering and planet shaking explosion. Less than a second after the attack had been launched Raditz began to plummet out of the sky. He landed, a moment later, at the edge of the blast crater with a thud. Unmoving.
Piccolo lowered the arm he'd raised to shield himself from the debris and force shockwaves and looked to where Raditz had landed. It only took a quick ki search to know that the Sai-jin was gone. "He over did it."
"I think he meant to from the start." said Vegeta as he walked up beside the Namek. "Revenge for Mango and extra time for Hotaru to finish preparing her attack." As he spoke the Sai-jin looked skyward to where Hotaru still floated a good distance up quickly charging their one and only hope of defeating Cell.
"What about Cell?" asked Nova as she joined them.
"Not moving." Piccolo replied. "He's not unconcious though." He stopped and narrowed his eyes a little as he focused more intently on Cell's power. "Hmm, interesting."
"What?"
"His power has dropped a little and it's not going back up."
The Changeling glanced his way. "What do you mean? Why would it go back up?" she asked.
"When we fought him seven years ago he said his energy was infinite. The generators...." he trailed off there as he realized why Cell's power wasn't being replenished and he smirked. "That's it. The generators."
"I see." Vegeta said with a nod. He remembered Cell's explanation from the video broadcast of the Cell Games. "Before, his energy was restored by the infinite energy generators he'd absorbed from Gainin and Mijima. The Proton Energy from those was converted into ki and kept him at full power. But, even though he's back in his Perfect Form, he lacks the generators."
"Which means his power reserves are limited now." Piccolo continued as he felt Cell began to move again. "I'd thought he felt stronger when I first sensed him than when he came back." He turned his gaze up toward where Hotaru was. "Which means the chances of this succeeding just increased."
Piccolo turned his gaze back to the blast crater as he felt Cell flying up to the surface. "I hope Hotaru's ready, looks like she's about out of time."
A second later the tips of Cell's head emerged from the hole, followed by his full head, and his face which bore a very sour and angry expression. And then the rest of him emerged. "You pests are really trying my patience. Haven't you realized yet that you can't beat me?"
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Hotaru said as she appeared in front of Cell. She had an arm pointed toward him with the other bracing it at the wrist, and a beach ball sized sphere of blue, silver, green, and orange energy in front of her hand. The attack was positioned less than a foot away from the Bio-droid. He had less than half a second to realize what was happening before her voice rang out. "Ikioi Reikon Kougeki!"
The energy sphere shot forward and slammed into Cell in an instant. And then it exploded and Hotaru was flung back into a building five blocks away. The huge swirling sphere of energy grew larger and larger as it carved out a deeper crater. And then it flashed a bright white and vanished.
"Is it over?" Nova asked.
Piccolo glanced around the crater for a moment and then nodded. "I think so." he said. "I don't sense Cell... but that's what happened last time, too."
Nova nodded as cracks snaked along her body and then the red armor shattered as she reverted back to normal. "Is it always this exiciting with you people?"
The Namek smirked as Hotaru unsteadily flew up and landed with the group. "Pretty much." he said before turning to the Tanarian. "How are you doing?"
She shook her head as she looked toward where Gainin and Mijima still lay, Raditz's body having been destroyed in the blast from her attack. "Better than some." she said. "But totally spent. I couldn't even stay transformed."
"We should head back to the palace." said Vegeta. "We still have a lot of work to do."